This teaching overview is geared for students grades 3 and up, and should yield roughly a ten-page play. Fewer or more pages are fine as long as the main elements of a play are covered. A sample scene can be found at the end of this article.
THE STEPS
1) Choose a setting
2) Create the characters
3) Give the characters a problem to solve (plot)
4) Let the characters reveal the story (dialog)
5) Have the problem resolved by the end of the play
SETTING
Getting kids from video and film mindset to a stage set is THE biggest step, but once there, it’s clear sailing. That’s why I suggest that kids select a setting first, which often sparks a story idea and keeps them focused on a single set, rather than jumping from place to place, as in film.
SET IDEAS
On a train
Under a bridge
Abandoned building
Barn
Diner
Porch
Campsite
School Yard
Living room of an old mansion
A waiting room
Deck of a boat
On a mountaintop
Space Station
Bare stage
If set ideas don’t help, try using a title to trigger an idea (for set or a story idea). Feel free to use any of the following:
TITLE SUGGESTIONS
The Red Eye
Strangers No More
Chicken Midnight
The Secret Room
Cry from the Hill
View from the Porch
Is Anybody Listening?
Second Chance
Mystery at the Fulton Grill
Belle’s Treasure
Holy Cannoli, Not Again!
Eddie’s Last Day on Earth
Danger at Canyon Ranch
Engine Stop #5
Winnie’s Secret
Tara’s Star
CHARACTERS
Character selection overlaps with plot, so it is okay to come up with a story idea first if that works better.
When choosing characters for a short play:
1) Keep the number to six.
2) Each character must have a reason for being in the story.
3) Each character must want something.
4) Have a variety of characters: the comic, obnoxious one, nosey, scared or shifty ones.
5) Choose interesting names for at least a few characters: Sunrise, Rocket Man, Treat, Mortimer Witherspoon, III, Jupiter.
PLOT
Plot is the central problem of the story. The main character wants something and has trouble getting it. Then, whatever the obstacle, add one or two more things to make it even harder.
I suggest posing the plot in question form which gives the playwright clarity going forward. i.e. Will they escape? Will Brook find her dog? Who took the necklace?
Choose an ending before starting! It gives the script focus. It can be changed later, but select an ending before writing. Below are some ideas anyone is welcome to use.
PLOT SUGGESTIONS
A Whodunit. Who doesn’t love a good mystery?! Friends or family gather at a mansion for a celebration and now Uncle Sol’s antique gold watch has disappeared from the shelf. It happened when the lights went out for a second. Who took it, and why?
Surprise party. Mom’s surprise birthday party isn’t going as planned. Someone lost the gifts, little brother spent his party money and it seems some of the cake has been eaten by someone who is not confessing! Or, what if the kids finally fix it all that but they have the wrong day? Do the kids pull off the surprise party?
Ghost story. Kids dare each other to sleep in an abandoned mansion. Some are bolder than others. But what if they discover they aren’t alone? What are those strange noises and filmy lights on the ceiling? Is a prank, or real?
Trapped in a snowstorm in a cabin. It’s two days till Christmas and the famiy is snowed in. While planning how to get out, more problems arise: the electricity goes out, someone falls and sprains an ankle, cell phones don’t work. Kids are fighting. Will they get out in time to be home for Christmas?
Trapped in an elevator. Cell phones don’t work in the space, no one is answering the emergency button. Someone is claustrophobic. Another has to be somewhere important. Maybe one person thinks it’s fun being stuck. Maybe they try to push the smallest person through a small floor gap and that person gets stuck. How do they get out?
OUTLINE
Once the set, characters and plot are chosen, have the playwrights sketch out a very brief outline to have for reference.
Place – location (city, country, planet). It can be a generic reference, such as:
A small town in the United States.
Setting — What we actually see on the stage: a winter cabin interior,
living room, empty playground. A winter cabin.
Time—The present, unless it is an historical or futuristic play. Add specifics if pertinent, otherwise just use The Present.
Characters— List names and ages. Age can also be generalized, such as: an
old man, a woman in her 20s.
Basic story— The Wilson family gets stuck in a cabin in a snowstorm two
days before Christmas. Kim trips and falls. Cell phones don’t work. The car
doesn’t start. Then Loni fixes the car (off stage) while Kim sends a snow SOS
outside the cabin (off stage). They don’t leave until after Christmas, but decide
it was the most fun they ever had, everyone sticking together for a special kind
of holiday.
Dramatic Question—Will the Wilson family get out of the cabin in time for Christmas?
Answer: No.
Remember—Know how the play ends before starting!
DIALOG
Dialog are the lines written for the characters. Dialog does two things: gives the audience information to forward the plot, and/or tells the audience something about the characters.
EXPOSITION
Exposition is important background information that needs to be given to the audience early on. You don’t need a narrator, just allow the characters to do the explaining. For example:
RONA
Whew! This is the hottest day Greenfield has ever had.
BOBBY
It is not.
RONA
Is so. The crops are wilting right in front of us.
BOBBY
Aw, Ma, you’re always complaining. I’m glad we have some sun for a change.
RONA
Oh, just eat your breakfast, will ya? You have a big day today.
BOBBY
The biggest! But I studied three hours last night and am ready for that test.
RONA
That’s my boy, always working so hard to get good grades.
What the audience has learned in 7 lines:
It’s hot
They live in Greenville
They grow crops
Rona and Bobby are mother and son
Bobby is a student, maybe a little sassy
Rona is proud of Bobby
Rona complains
Bobby is optimistic
SOME PLAYWRITING TERMS
AT RISE – Used to indicate the start of the play
Exit – used when a character leaves the stage
Entrance – used when a character enters the stage
Stage Right – the actor’s right
Stage Left – the actor’s left
Downstage – towards the audience
Upstage – away from the audience
Blackout – used to end a scene or an act
Scene – Start a new scene if time passes (even minutes) or locations change
Stage directions for characters should be minimal. Only write essential directions and let the director/teacher suggest choices to the actors.
RESOLUTION
(Conclusion)
This is the plot wrap-up, the end where the dramatic question is answered.
Examples:
The family does not get out of the cabin in time for Christmas, but it is
still a happy ending because they learned some valuable life lessons about
working together.
The kids spent the night in the haunted house, and it turns out the noises
and lights were a prank. It was one of the kids using some cool new
electronic equipment. But the prankster gets his comeuppance in the end
when a “ghost” appears in the window. It turns out one of the kids knew about
the prank, and decided to scare the prankster himself at the end.
IN SUMMARY
- Choose a setting
- Create the characters
- Give characters a problem
- Let the characters tell the story
- Resolve the problem
- Have fun!
